Why is signing lease agreements important to you as a renter?
Many people who live in rented houses sometimes have to put up with inconsiderate landlords and agents.
Examples;
“I had problems with three of my last agents,” says Agnes Wanja, 28, who lives in Thika. “One refused to fix a plumbing problem I found in the house. The second one locked my house because she had not seen my receipt, while the third refused to refund my deposit.”
Kevin Waigwa, a 30-year-old businessman, has a similar complaint. “When I moved into my previous house in Kitengela, I didn’t think I would have problems dealing with the agent. I paid my rent on time played by the rules. But when I moved out two years later, he kept Sh7,000 of the Sh13,000 deposit I had paid, saying he needed it to do some repairs. And that after I had nagged him for four months. However, I later learnt that no repairs were carried out.”
Related: How to Break Your Lease Without Losing Your Deposit
Reasons for signing lease agreements
Dramatic rent increases, withheld deposits and shoddy maintenance of houses are some of the issues that renting homes face. Indeed, cases of tenants being thrown out without due legal procedures being followed are commonplace.
There is also a worrying trend in communal living spaces where some landlords and agents decide when the gate should be closed, and when tenants can access certain amenities. Such things happen mainly because many tenants do not know their rights.
Ideally, the role of an agent is to manage the property on behalf of the landlords – getting new tenants, collecting rent, clearing those who vacate and carrying out repairs. Sadly, most Kenyans have had nasty experiences with agents, a situation that is increasingly making landlords opt to manage their own property. If tenants knew their legal rights and exercised them, they would reduce friction between them and landlords or housing agents.